Tanker truck accidents involving overturned gas tankers are unfortunately a common cause for hazardous material recovery operations. In the United States alone, it is estimated that as many as 1300 fuel truck tankers overturn every year. When a tanker truck is involved in a rollover accident and the product on board remains intact (e.g., there is no fire, explosion, or leak), it is necessary that the fuel be removed from the damaged tanker onsite, as any unnecessary relocation or repositioning of the tanker can cause dangerous and environmentally harmful fuel leaks.
However, the process currently used for offloading fuel from a tanker truck is also highly dangerous. When a hazardous material (HAZMAT) team arrives on site to remove the fuel, the tanker is typically in a position that does not allow for removal via the usual ports located on the tanker for loading or unloading of fuel. Rather, the tanker is turned on its side or on its top, and furthermore, it may have skidded off the road into a nearby ditch or other unstable location. In these situations, the conventional process calls for one HAZMAT crew member to climb onto the overturned tanker and drill a hole through the uppermost side of the tank containing the fuel. Drilling into a metal tanker can cause sparks, which may lead to an explosion of the fuel or fuel vapors and is extremely dangerous. To reduce the chance for an explosion, the HAZMAT team continually sprays vapor-suppressing foam on the location of the drilling. The foam, however, may contaminate the local environment. Moreover, the vapor-suppressing foam is also extremely slippery, which creates a safety hazard for recovery personnel on or around the tanker.
Once the drilling is completed, a hose is inserted into the tank so that fuel may be pumped out of the tank. However, this fuel is contaminated by the drilling shavings and by any foam that entered the tank, and so it is unusable for its intended purpose as fuel after recovery. Additionally, the drilled hole is roughly made, such that any hose inserted into the hole does not fit snugly. This means that gas vapors will continue to escape during the offloading process, so the vapor-suppressing but environmentally harmful foam must continue to be sprayed on or near the location of the drilled hole. This process must be repeated for each individual compartment of the tanker.
What is needed, then, is a tanker designed for easy and efficient offloading of fuel in the event of a rollover accident that does not require drilling holes into the tanker. Furthermore, a process and apparatus is needed for offloading the loaded tanker in a manner that is not only safe and environmentally friendly but preserves the product from contamination due to drilling and foaming.